A Message of Gratitude to Myself | Your Story
Your Story is a series in which you, the reader, are invited to be a guest writer on Your Friend Jane and share your own story, relating to mental health and personal growth.
Ashley Flachner
Dear Ashley,
First of all, close your eyes, take a deep breath and realize how far you have come and what you have accomplished! Let’s analyze what you have done this year:
You took on a new job to make some more money as a food server! Not the most glamorous job, but interacting with customers and colleagues helped with your social anxiety. 😊
You got straight A’s in your difficult chemistry and biology classes, even during COVID and the rough switch the online classes.
You studied over 600 hours for your Dental Admissions Test and got your target score! Lots and lots of crying, battling with mental health all by yourself and fitting in communicating with friends, family and your partner.
You battled with the emotional distress and depression of breaking up with your partner of almost three years, the one who you thought would be your partner for the rest of your life. You are so, so strong for dealing with the lack of communication, selfish mentality and rude messages that broke your heart and hanging on until the end.
You started therapy again— so proud! You are taking steps to bettering yourself after realizing that others cannot do that for you. A tough pill to swallow was realizing that some people will only care for you and your mental wellbeing when it is convenient for them.
You are moving into a new apartment with your best friends soon. This will definitely lift your spirits with the constant laughing, and just having people to cuddle with and lean on when you need someone to listen to your rants about life.
You will begin your position as Clinic Manager with the UCSD Free Dental Clinics, something you have been working towards since freshman year. You have taken so many steps towards your future as a dentist. Never forget your constant efforts!
You got up this morning and are breathing — if this is only thing you do today, that’s great! Some days are hard, so you don’t need big accomplishments to say you are “good enough.”
So, whenever you think you aren’t good enough, aren’t ‘cool’ enough, or just feel that you are drowning in obsessive thoughts or anxiety — just read this list of what you have done. (This isn’t even all of it!)
Ashley, you are taking this world by storm!
Love,
Yourself
P.S. To anyone who thinks they haven’t accomplished much or are anxious that you aren’t good enough for yourself, your family, partner or friends, make a list like this highlighting how ✨ amazing ✨ you are!
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